The breakfast table remains a good place to get a strong marketing message across. Breakfast cereals, in particular, are a popular vehicle to encourage a healthy and active lifestyle.
At the end of 2010, Chris McCormack became the first Ironman World Champion to appear on Wheaties and Wheaties FUEL cereal boxes.
Now, having signed a sponsorship deal with the Sanitarium Health Food Company, which manufactures high fibre Weet-Bix in Australia and New Zealand, Kiwi triathlete Aaron Barclay has become the new face of Weet-Bix cereal in New Zealand.
Barclay becomes the ‘poster boy’ for Weet-Bix cereal boxes, having become a Weet-Bix TRYathlon Ambassador last year. As a TRYathlon Ambassador, Barclay joined a number of other athletes to support the Weet-Bix campaign to get Kiwi kids active. Other ambassadors include high profile triathletes Cameron Brown, Bevan Docherty and Jo Lawn.
Weet-Bix is tying up with the young NZ triathlete as the company embarks on a promotional drive into 2011-12, with the focus of its efforts being the Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon series.
The Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon is a community-based event, encouraging Kiwi kids between the ages of 7 and 15 of all sporting abilities to participate. The first event of the 2012 Weet-Bix TRYathlon series takes place on 7 December 2011 in Manukau. Thanks to Auckland Council, the first 1,000 entrants will pay only NZ$17 (€10 / US$13) for their registration.
It is reported that Aaron Barclay would appear on Weet-Bix cereal boxes for the next three to four months, until the entire run of packaging to support the Weet-Bix Kids Tryathlon is snapped up.
“It’s going to be pretty weird seeing that,” Barclay joked. “It will be pretty cool, I suppose. I haven’t really told my friends. I guess they’ll see it when it comes out!”
